Up and Down.....

I knew there would be some ups and downs, and this week is a downer. The path that I thought was stretched out in front of me has suddenly sprouted great, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Now I must blaze a new path, which I will do, but it is a quite challenging to pick myself up and try again. sigh That which does not kill you will make you stronger.

Learning Ecology

Just moving into Week 4 of the 2nd quarter, and the readings, videos and podcasts are amazing. The 2009 Horizon Report lists the upcoming technology advances we will see in the next several years - mobile, cloud computing, geo-everything, the personal web, semantic-aware applications and smart objects. Wow! How many of those do you know about?

John Seely Brown, in his Seminal Paper, talks about the changes that need to happen in education to meet the needs of kids growing up in the digital age. These are not simple changes, but entire shifts in thinking, and they are all possible with the versatility of the Web. He describes the Web as transformative, interactive, rapidly developing, focused on social learning, and responsive to multiple intelligences. It is a tool that has the potential to leverage learning. The Web allows a region to combine knowledge and “augment the dynamics of a region.” The Web is so important for education because today’s kids are multi-processors and today’s new literacy is Information Navigation. The Web facilitates informal learning from experts to anyone who wants to learn, as well as from students to teachers.

In the Jossey-Bass reader, I learned about political aspects of leadership. According to Wikipedia, ploitics is “social relations involving authority or power”. I had never really thought of politics as anything other than government, so this surprised me a little. The key to political skill is in building relationships. One can only do this by caring about people. We show we care by listening, being sincere, thinking before speaking, and getting to know the people in our organization. I loved reading about this, because caring about people is central to my philosophy and my mission. I am getting caught up on the readings nicely this weekend, and am looking forward to this new week.

Reading Bonk

Read Chapter 4 Bonk tonight, The World is Open. Fascinating stuff, and it makes me realize how much there is out there to learn. I am a little overwhelmed right now with the tremendous volume of reading I need to complete this week. I am hoping our grad class can work together to share the load. Blackboard is down tonight, hope it is working tomorrow.

Getting Started

Sometimes it takes a while to get dreams started. I knew for a long time that I had big and evolving dreams, but it wasn't until recently that a friend helped me to put my dreams into words. What I yearn for every day of my life, past - present - and future, is to help people. I want to make a difference especially in the lives of children. That is my passion! It is what drives me to do more.

I graduated with high honors from high school (1974), cum laude from college BS El Ed (1977), 4.0 from grad school with M. Ed. T&C and Reading Specialist (1991) but still I wanted more. I started a doctorate at PSU (2004) and an instructional coaching certificate (2008) at Wilkes, but my path finally solidified in the doctoral program (Ed D) through Drexel, in a cutting-edge blended program. I am just now begining the second quarter of the program, and I am immersed in my passion as I discover the new realities of this exciting time of innovation and rapid change in education. This is an exhilarating time to be an educator! I find myself wishing I could turn my biological clock back twenty years so I could realize more of these changes in my lifetime!

In any case, on with the journey. I will add posts as I continue this journey. Please join me.